Travel from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas

· cat · food · map · RV · travel

We drove our coach 275 miles, about five hours of driving, from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas.

That was about double what we normally aim for, but we felt we could handle it, since we had two week stays on either side. And yes, it was fine; it didn’t feel like twice as long, due to taking several stops, plus the drive was pretty easy (no significant mountains or other challenges).

The map route, heading south:

Map route

An interactive map, with our stops:

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving RV park
Leaving RV park

Our coach with the slides in while traveling:

Slides in

Heading down the highway:

Highway

Carlsbad cavepeople in the median, and a mural of their historic aquaduct, the Pecos River Flume, which is also famous for being the only river that crosses itself:

Carlsbad cavepeople
Carlsbad

National Parks Highway:

National Parks Highway

Entering Texas from New Mexico:

Entering Texas
Entering Texas

Paladin on the dash, approaching a rest area:

Paladin on the dash approaching a rest area
Rest area

Continuing on down US-62, past the Guadalupe Mountains:

US-62
US-62
US-62
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
US-62

US-62 to SH-54:

US-62 to SH-54
Mountains
SH-54

A flood gauge:

Flood gauge
Mountains
SH-54

We quite liked this region of Texas; nice mountains etc:

Mountains
Mountains

Dip:

Dip

Big dip:

Big dip
Mountains
Mountains

Van Horn, Texas:

Van Horn, Texas
Van Horn, Texas

A fuel stop:

Fuel stop

There wasn’t a great place to stop for lunch around the Love’s, but I had an alternative plan; I had spotted a good place to park our coach elsewhere in town:

Lunch stop

Near a Pilot travel center (which we didn’t use for fuel, as we don’t get a discount there):

Lunch stop

We went to Wendy’s for lunch:

Wendy's

A funky camera artifact:

Funky camera artifact

Lunch (it’s pretty rare to have Wendy’s, but their fries are actually quite nice, for fast food; I like the skins-on style):

Lunch

Birds on a wire:

Birds on a wire

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Back on the road; we noticed cotton on the side of the road:

Back on the road

Probably from a cotton field:

Cotton field

Another stop:

Another stop

To check out a roadside art installation, Prada Marfa:

Prada Marfa
Prada Marfa
Prada Marfa
Prada Marfa

A selfie, with our coach in the background:

Prada Marfa

We spotted a border patrol blimp in the sky:

Border patrol blimp
Border patrol blimp

Giant Marfa mural:

Giant Marfa mural

Welcome to Marfa:

Welcome to Marfa

Stardust Motel sign:

Stardust Motel sign

Thunderbird Restaurant sign:

Thunderbird Restaurant sign

Mural:

Mural

We saw several old gas stations that had been converted to other activities:

Converted gas station

A border inspection station; unsurprising, being just north of Mexico:

Border inspection station
Highway

Paladin asleep:

Paladin asleep

Elephant Rock:

Elephant Rock
Highway

Pointy mountain:

Mountains

Presidio, Texas:

Presidio, Texas
Presidio, Texas
Presidio, Texas

Our destination:

Our destination
Our destination

Jenn checking in; the office is unattended, payment by check in an honor box:

Jenn checking in

We also got to pick our site here; plenty of available options:

Picking our site